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by Wahmenitu
Summary: Cloud has returned from his battle with Sephiroth, to find a lot more time has passed than he thought.  Fluff.  Set during Kingdom Hearts II.


**Author's Note: **'Nother Valentine's Day one-shot. I got the idea in my head and thought it'd be cute, hopefully. Cloti, for us lovers of the fluff. I mean, I have nothing _against_ Aerith, but... I just love Tifa so much more. xD Set... during Kingdom Hearts II, slight spoiler, if you actually manage to beat Sephiroth.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

_the end_

It was bright.

That was the first thing he noticed, flinching as he slowly cracked his eyes open, met with clear blue skies and a shining sun.

It was cold, too.

That was the second thing he noticed, as he slowly sat up, inclining his knees, and pushing down on them with his hands, to get himself into a standing position. Slowly, he gazed around. All he could see around him were tall cliffsides, and a large ravine below him. Almost instantly after that, images began flashing through his mind.

"_Tifa! Stay back!"_

"_How can I? I wanna help you."_

"_You can't. He'll never let go of the darkness."_

"_He doesn't have to. He just needs to be surrounded with light. The darkness will be there Sephiroth, but in a place you can't reach!"_

"_Is that right? Let's see what this light of yours can do."_

He remembered now... asking Sora to deliver a message to Sephiroth, then arriving in the Great Maw where the silver-haired swordsman was waiting. They had been fighting... and then Sephiroth had gone after Tifa.

"_Cloud, you can have my light."_

"_The light doesn't suit you."_

"_I just... I don't know."_

Then he started glowing. He remembered the warmth spreading through his body, practically sparking at his fingertips, feeling stronger, rejuvenated, and then Sephiroth had lunged. All he had thought about at that moment, was keeping his friends safe. Tifa, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, they were all in the way, Sephiroth had no mercy, and he _would_ attack them, given the chance.

And then they'd disappeared. His worries had been put to rest, he and Sephiroth had arrived in the empty Coliseum, somewhere no one could interrupt, where he could battle his darkness alone...

No, he wasn't alone anymore. Tifa. Tifa had given him all he needed to battle and defeat Sephiroth, send him back to the recesses of his mind, but after that, he'd felt so weak. Unable to stand, or even hold his sword properly, Cloud had collapsed, and sunk into the welcoming darkness of unconsciousness.

Now he was back in Hollow Bastion. He didn't know how, but he knew that he needed to find Tifa. Find his friends. Assure them he was alright. Looking to his side, he picked up his Buster Sword, Zack's image flashing briefly through his mind, and he smiled, very slightly, to himself. "I told you... I'd live both of our lives... and... I think it's about time I start..." he murmured, sliding the sword into one of the straps on his back, before he turned, navigating silently back to town.

Surprise colored his features, upon reaching the city. The walls had been rebuilt. No evidence of the Heartless attack or Organization XIII was present. Exactly _how long_ had he been gone?

"OhmiGAWD! You're back!" Cloud flinched silently when a scream assaulted his ears, and his head snapped towards it source, to find Yuffie standing tall on a wall, hands on her hips and grin on her face. Leaping down, she ran over, all but tackling Cloud into a hug, one which he barely managed to stay standing from.

"Hi... Yuffie..." he grunted quietly, slowly pushing the tiny woman away from him, staring down at the ninja. She didn't look any different, or older... except...

"Is that Leon's jacket?" Cloud asked, bewildered.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah! I said I was gonna go out and check up on things, and Squall made me take his jacket, since it's February and all, coldest month of the year or whatever. OH! That's right! You haven't been here! Squall _kissed_ me! Squall. Kissed. _Me._ Can ya believe it, Cloudy?" Yuffie beamed, but slowly, her grin faded as she stared at Cloud, who was staring down at her with a strange expression.

"It's... _February? _When I disappeared it was _July_." Cloud took a step back from Yuffie, reaching up to rub his temples slowly, trying to process all that was being thrown at him.

"Oh wow... you _have_ been gone a long time... Hey! Don't worry about it, okay? As long as you did what you needed to do, everything's fine. Sora's at Castle Oblivion now, everything'll be okay soon. So, don't worry, okay Cloud? We can relax now... we've done it." Yuffie was quiet now, a calm, reassuring smile on her face as she patted his arm. "When you get the chance, come on over to Merlin's house! Everyone's there!" she added cheerily, as she turned, and ran off, waving back to him.

"Everything's done... we can... relax now?" the phrase sounded so strange to him. He hadn't been able to relax... since he was a kid, and even then, it was stripped short when he'd gone to become a soldier. Between Sephiroth, Kadaj, and then Hojo, as _well_ as the Geostigma, he hadn't thought he'd ever be able to relax. But... he could now?

Disbelieving, Cloud started towards the Marketplace, intent on seeing exactly HOW well everything was going.

_the end_

Valentine's Day, she decided, wasn't so bad after all. Everyone seemed so much more friendly, and open, and it was appreciated when her kindness over the months had been returned in the form of candies and flowers. She had dropped off most of those at Merlin's house a while ago, though, leaving them for Yuffie for whenever she got back from her stroll around town. Now, she simple twirled a pink carnation between her fingers, humming softly to herself with a gentle smile. "Hello, Scrooge." she greeted the duck softly, who waved back at her enthusiastically, before he set back to work on making Hot Chocolate, selling well on a day couples littered the streets.

It didn't bother her too much, to sit on a wall and watch the couples be happy together. With a soft smile, she lifted the carnation to her nose, inhaling lightly, before her wine colored eyes trailed up slowly, settling on a newcomer, that had just entered the Marketplace, looking completely out of place, and awkward.

She gasped slightly, flower slipping through her fingers and falling to the ground as she stared at the blonde. Spiky, gravity defying hair, lightly tanned skin, bright, mako eyes...

"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed, leaping off the wall to run over to him, met with surprised blue eyes, that almost immediately softened at the sight of her.

"Tifa..." Cloud greeted quietly, 'oomphing' as he was once again enveloped in a hug, though this one was less forced, less... Yuffie. Slowly, he slid his arms around her middle in response, holding Tifa silently as he wracked his brain for the proper thing to say.

"I... need to thank you... Sephiroth's gone... and I couldn't have done it... if you hadn't helped me... if you hadn't given me your light..." Cloud murmured quietly, glancing away, embarrassed when Tifa pulled back to look at him.

With a gentle giggle, Tifa poked his forehead lightly. "You always had my light, Cloud. You have everyone's. That's what friends do. They help each other, and give what they can." Tifa spoke gently to him, Cloud looking up at her in silence, before he smiled slightly, and nodded.

"Yeah... I guess you're right... you sound like Sora though." he replied, allowing Tifa to lead him now, going in the direction he guessed was Merlin's house.

"I think we could learn a couple of things from him, you know." Tifa replied with a smile, looking over her shoulder at the blonde swordman following her so willingly. Finally. After chasing, and giving, and suffering... she could just... be with Cloud now... no world-ending catastrophes, no horrible-illness infecting the children and Cloud... nothing... just peace, while Sora, Riku, and King Mickey took the final stretch.

_the end_

Entering the house was welcoming, Cid hollerin' and congratulatin' up a storm, while Yuffie bounded off walls until Leon caught her, said gunblade wielders calm, but happy greetings, and of course, Aerith's ever-soft, cheery greetings. Looking around at all the faces, Cloud vaguely wondered why he had ever pushed all of this away, why he ran away from this.

Protection. He'd wanted to protect them from Sephiroth. And now he had. Now he could relax, and help restore their old home to its former glory, or maybe... maybe something even better. As he turned to Tifa, he was met with a rose in his face.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Cloud." Tifa giggled at his confused expression, as he took the rose slowly, before smiling, genuinely.

"Yeah... Happy Valentine's Day, Teef." he murmured softly in reply.

"Cloud doesn't even have any hair to put the flower in! Not fair! Squall, go-mmmphhh." Yuffie's mouth was met with gloved leather as Leon sighed, hand over Yuffie's mouth.

"Just... kiss her." Leon muttered, and Cloud shifted, looking down at the former barmaid.

"Right." he nodded quietly. There was no need to make Tifa wait anymore, she'd given so much. Leaning down, he pressed his mouth to hers, short and sweet, but full of promise of what was to come. After it was all over, after they got the signal that Sora had prevailed once again.

_the end_

**Author's Note: **Done! I love Cloud and Tifa... very much. And I love Kingdom Hearts II. I'm playing the game again, which is probably inspiring all of these little drabbles.


End file.
